Europe: Barcelona, Spain

Barcelona Factoids:

• Barcelona is very bike friendly - they have tons of bike lanes and even mini traffic signals for them!
• More diverse, more Westernized, and it definitely has more English speakers.
• Higher vehicle use than Madrid
• Waiters will not come to take your order until all menus are closed and on the table
• Most common tapas are croquettes, anchovies, olives, octopus
• Order of fastest mode of transportation from our location: bicycle – taxi – walking – metro
• The public transit includes metro, tram, bus, and train. Metro uses separate tickets from the trains.
• Barcelona (a part of Catalonia) was in the middle of a referendum for declaring independence while we were in town. Tensions were high, but all protests were very civil and peaceful. We were actually there when they declared independence (Oct 27). Lots of demonstrations throughout the entire city. We constantly kept up with the resistance to ensure we weren't placing ourselves in any protest areas 
• Barcelona's craft beer scene is MUCH better than Madrid's  

October 23, 2017
We woke up early this morning to catch the 8:30am train to Barcelona. I think I got 3 hours of sleep. Zombie mode initiated. After a 3 hour ride, we arrived in Barcelona! We used our traveler skills to find a taxi that could hold 5 people. Thankfully they still understand Spanish here. I was worried they wouldn’t since technically the language is Catalan. Our host met us at our place and gave us a quick tour. He was adorable and a little spastic. At one point he was showing us how the washing machine worked and hit his head, “Ouch, sorry!” Why are you apologizing to us? Haha. There is also a funny sign in the bathroom that says, “You are in an intimate place. Take your time. Be relaxed.” It makes me laugh each time I use the bathroom! We decided to eat lunch at a nearby taberna, El Vitio, that our host recommended. The guy working there was

Italian and immediately spoke English to us. I was a little disappointed. I wanted to continue practicing my Spanish. We ordered a series of tapas and my favorites were the salmon and the veggie soup. They also served Estrella Galicia beer which is my favorite in Spain. After about 30 minutes we walked out to explore the Grand Via area. It was lined with trees and had very wide streets. We reached a plaza with hundreds of pigeons. We watched a girl toss a whole bag of bird feed to them which was entertaining. We walked back, hit up a supermarket, and took naps. I had a headache today, I think from dehydration. Mom, Dad, and Kenneth went out to dinner while Aunt Kathy and I stayed in. I type this up while they are out and as Aunt Kathy tries to find a TV channel that is not in Spanish. It is proving to be a much harder task than we thought. It’s 10pm and I’m ready to hit the hay. First day in Barcelona complete! Tibidabo is on the schedule for tomorrow and then meeting up with my Maryland childhood friend (Leah Klump), who now lives here, for dinner!

October 24, 2017
Today started off a little slow, but then it was full of activity. We all slept in a bit and then left for Tibidabo at 1pm. Kenneth and I were really excited for this adventure because they mentioned Tibidabo in a Friends episode (see reference here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HguzO9KmHBU). Our apartment is located near Sagrada Familia which isn’t in the most convenient of places for using the metro. It’s near a school sport court and children are constantly yelling and playing during recess so it’s also quite loud. The bedroom windows face in toward the complex which also can be loud due to the echoes of people talking or dogs barking. It’s a good place aside from the noise. Anyway, we departed for the metro and completed many transfers. It’s good to note that Tibidabo itself is a little complicated to get to. Thankfully, I found a great article about it online. We first went to metro stop Girona about three blocks from our place and bought “10 trip” tickets. Each “10 trip” ticket was only 9.95 euro which equaled less than 1 euro per ticket! Pretty awesome. The Barcelona metro system is a little easier to maneuver when transferring than it was in Madrid thank goodness, but the network itself is a little disorganized. The lines didn’t seem to be as interconnected as Madrid – a lot more hoops to jump through. We hopped on the train, rode one stop, transferred to a different line, rode one stop, transferred from metro to commuter rail (L7), and then exited at Avenidas Tibidabo. But it wasn’t over yet! We then needed to take the Tramvia Blau which was near the metro stop and would take us halfway up the mountain. At the halfway point, we would take a Funicular mountain train to the top. My head was spinning with all the different steps. We began our search for the tram by walking up a hill for a bit and I realized this must not be correct. We returned down the hill and spotted the small tram/bus stop. After reading all the information at the sheltered stop, we discovered the tram was out of service until mid-November. Oh no! What were we going to do now? The stop also had a map that showed a bus line going to the Funicular. We decided to find and use that bus. After much detective work we found the right bus and rode to the halfway point - using our traveler skills for the win! I thought everyone would be annoyed by this wild goose chase, but instead they were patient and still trusted me with the plan. What a great crew :) We stopped halfway for a bite to eat at Mirablau because the article I

read suggested it. And man, did the view blow our socks off! We were seated at a table right next to the open terrace window where we could see over all of Barcelona and even the Mediterranean Sea. We took pictures galore, highlighting our tourist status. It felt like a dream. We ordered a bottle of cava and some finger foods and soaked it all in. The worker had a tough time opening the cava bottle. His face got all red and he looked like he was gonna pass out from trying so hard! Poor guy. It probably didn’t help that I was videotaping him haha. We wrapped things up and then rode the Funicular train to the top. This was quite the experience. It felt like we were on a bus on roller coaster tracks. I was waiting for it to launch up the mountain like in a theme park. We arrived at the top around 3:30pm. The views were outstanding! They even had some thrill rides open near the cathedral. It was quite the sight. We

took many more pictures and then walked up to the cathedral. This whole setup reminded me a lot of Rio de Janeiro’s Christ the Redeemer statue. It was eerily similar - the statue of Jesus with his arms wide and the view consisting of water, mountains, and city. It felt like a throwback. We walked inside and it was gorgeous. Very serene too. We noticed an elevator in the next room that would take you higher up the cathedral. At first I was like “oh helll no!” but everyone in the group was doing it and I didn’t want to be left behind. We bought tickets, but a patron told us the elevator was broken. Then Aunt Kathy backed out. It actually wasn’t broken, it was just really, really slow. Aunt Kathy took this as a sign to not go, and so the Trumpoldts rode to the elevator’s topmost point and looked over the edge. Aye de mi! I was very scared at first and clung to the nearest concrete column. However, when I finally worked up the courage to look over the edge, it actually wasn’t bad at all because I could see the platform just below us about 50 meters. This made me feel safer. We explored a bit and there were stunning views of the

city/beach on one side and lush green mountains on the other. It was spectacular. Kenneth, Mom, and Dad walked up some stairs to get a little higher. You could actually climb all the way up to Jesus, but none of them could work up the courage to go that far. We returned to Aunt Kathy around 5:30pm and bought some souvenirs. Then, we spotted a boar in the plaza below the cathedral just roaming freely! What the hell?? Many people were stopping and taking photos of it and it gained lots of attention. It chased one girl around because she got too close to it with her camera. It was a little comical, but more so frightening. It looked like there were two caretakers that owned the boar, but they weren’t doing anything about it. It was very strange. We returned by Funicular and jumped through metro hoops again to reach our apartment and finally arrived home around 7pm.

We had about an hour and a half at the apartment and then left to meet up with Leah Klump for dinner at a restaurant called Can Puyentes. We arrived 10 minutes early and thankfully there was WiFi available so I could message Leah. She showed up and we all talked for a long time before we ordered any food. We ordered our dishes and I got the rabbit. It was so tender and so

delicious. It may be one of my favorite meat meals. We then ordered some shot glasses of Orujo de Hierbas that Leah suggested. Apparently, it’s a liquor that Catalonia people drink after their meal. We clinked our glasses and she instructed us to put it down on the table, say “Quien no apolla no folla,” and then make a circle before drinking. As soon as we completed this maneuver, Dad and I drank it like a shot. “Nooo you’re supposed to sip on it!” Ooops. Well why do they put it in a shot glass then! We're such typical Americans haha. I’m glad we took it as a shot though because it was pretty disgusting. I wouldn’t have been able to sip it. Leah has been living in Barcelona for 3 years now and lives with her boyfriend. She says the Catalonia unrest is mostly non-violent but

there are a lot of political activities going on. She was very happy to see us all together. It’s wild to think that it has been 17 years since we saw each other. Who would have thought the next time we would meet up would be in Barcelona! Dinner lasted about 2 hours and then we went to Ovella Negra, which means Black Sheep, for beers. Hasret, Safak’s sister, recommended the place because it had cheap beers and a young, hostel vibe. Apparently, it’s where all the people go to pregame before they hit the clubs. It was like a big biergarten. We sat with our half liters, Aunt Kathy with her third of a liter, and Kenneth with a full liter. We had some fun conversation about what you would come back as if you were reincarnated. We left around 1:30am. Today was a fun day and I’m realizing how difficult it is to keep up with this journal with my family around all the time! And also we’re doing lots of activities. Tomorrow we plan to go to the beach, Sagrada Familia, a flamenco/guitar performance, and then salsa/bachata dancing. It will be jam packed day!

October 25, 2017
This was Kenneth’s last full day in Barcelona so naturally we had to hit the beach. And none of us were complaining about that! The metro was very easy to take to the beach thank goodness – just a few stops along the same line. Finally, an easy way to use the metro system here. We exited the metro station and walked along a wide pedestrian sidewalk as we passed by many stores, shops, and cafes. We found a little eatery on the beach called La Deliciosa that was picture perfect. The beach reminded me a lot of Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro. The

water was beautiful and there were mountains nearby. However, this was not the ocean so there weren’t any big waves. I ordered a sangria with white wine, Mom ordered a daiquiri, and Aunt Kathy ordered cava. The guys laid on the sand near the water. It was all very delicious so the name of the restaurant was accurate. It was so tropical. I miss going to the beach every now and then. Our waitress was very, very nice. She was from Argentina and she spoke some English. I joined the guys on the beach and the weather was perfect. It was about 78F so it was just hot enough on the sand, but it also made you want to go in the water. As we laid on the beach there were Indian guys constantly trying to sell you beer, water, or other things. They literally came by every minute. It was rather annoying and it ruined the vibe. It’s not like I’m going to change my mind in one minute, sir. There were also girls walking around trying to give massages to people. I dipped my toes in the water (I have touched the Mediterranean Sea!) and Kenneth jumped in. I would have done the same,

but then I would have had to take a shower afterwards which we didn’t have time before Sagrada Familia. It was nice laying on the beach. We took some photos and eventually headed back. We arrived back at the apartment around 3pm. We left for Sagrada Familia at 4pm. Our tour started at 4:30pm, but we are allowed in at 4:15pm. When we arrived it was quite the sight. There was so much construction going on for the building. I had read about it, but I didn’t realize how much of it was still under construction. The outside part that was completed, the only façade that was finished before Gaudi died, looked incredible. There was so much detail and each door had a specific meaning. There was a door for Hope, there was a door for Faith, and there was a door for the Love. Each door had many statues and carvings around it to represent what the door stood for. We did a guided tour which proved to be an excellent idea.

As we walked into the cathedral, sunlight pierced through the stain glass windows and surrounded us. The deep, rich color of orange spread along one side of the building. It was

absolutely awe inspiring - truly unbelievable. It was probably the most amazing experience I’ve ever had in a religious building and that includes Notre Dame. Though they do have quite different styles. I feel like Sagrada Familia is more modern and colorful where Notre Dame is more old-fashioned and authentic. The design inside Sagrada Familia was reflective of nature. It mimicked the patterns found out in the natural world. That’s what Gaudi really believed in. The columns were designed like trees and extended upward as far as the eye could see. It’s really hard to explain what it looked like inside because it was so overwhelming. The tour guide said that this was the best time to see the interior of Sagrada Familia due to the light shining through the glass in late afternoon. I could see why! The light engulfed the whole cathedral and the red/orange stained glass on one side created a glowing look that made you feel warm. I recorded a video of the inside of this great building to try and capture the essence. However, it did not do it justice. The tour lasted about an hour and it only cost 24 euros. An excellent deal.

Our guide mentioned that 15,000 visitors come every day and the purchase of the tickets funds the construction. They’re generating a lot of money for the construction of this building which is great! The guide also showed us a model that Gaudi created for another building. It was an inverted model where he used weighted bags full of sand to figure out the forces in the building, arches, and structural elements. It was incredible. She said that this was his greatest achievement and it was amazing. There were no drawings or plans, just the model. The inverted model showed what the building would look like if it was flipped upside down. After the tour we returned to the apartment for a little while. We then walked to the Flamenco performance at Palau de La Musica Catalan. It was quite the walk from the apartment to this place. I’ve been very conscious while walking because Aunt Kathy likes to walk slower and her knee has been bothering her. Beforehand, we ate dinner across the street from the theater and it was fantastic. It was called Tosca. After dinner we walked across the street to the theater which is also a UNESCO site.

Everyone was dressed well and we walked up the staircase into the performance area. It was very fancy and I felt like we were royalty. We sat in little chairs situated in a booth, kind of like you see in the old timey movies. We then watched the performance which was incredible. Most of the time it was just the three guitarists playing. The guitarists were very talented. I really liked it when the Flamenco dancers were out on the floor. Their dancing was entrancing and it looked very difficult. After this we went back to the apartment and got ready to dance bachata at Antilla Salsa Disco. We took a taxi there and during the ride I spoke with the cab driver in Spanish about Colorado. It was fun. We walked into the venue and they gave us a green card to use to purchase a drink. Then we received a red card in return. This is what we would give the bouncer to exit the venue after we were done so they knew we had paid for a drink. It was complicated. I walked in and the dance scene was incredible. There were a bunch of bachata dancers on the first floor who looked professional. Then I realized there was a second floor with more bachata! Dad and I went up the stairs and I liked it a little bit better because it was more intimate. You could also look down onto the first floor too! It was quite the setup. I was immediately asked to dance. I was really enjoying my time dancing with all these amazing guys. Their bachata styles were very similar to ones I had experienced in the past. However, they incorporated a little bit more body isolation. Then Dad and I walked downstairs to check out the salsa scene. Again, I was asked to dance and I partnered up with very talented dancers. I walked over to Dad and he said Leah just arrived. Leah and I chatted for a bit and then I brought her up to the bachata dance floor. Eventually Kenneth met up with us as well. He talked to Leah while I talked to her friend, Denis, in Spanish. He was very nice and he dances lindy hop with Leah. We parted ways and I wanted to find him later to say goodbye, but I couldn’t find him after that. Apparently he told Leah to tell me goodbye and that he really enjoyed talking with me. Around 2am we left to go to Jamboree. Leah decided to come with us. It had an interesting vibe. We entered and they were playing a variety of older music that a lot of people were dancing to. This was actually a lot of fun. We then went down to the first floor where there was more of a club atmosphere. Kenneth, Leah, and I hung out for a bit and then went back upstairs. We all left at 4:45am and walked Leah to the bus stop. We took a taxi back and I ate some leftover pizza from our fridge. Kenneth leaves in the morning. I’m so glad he came on this trip - he’s so special to me. I don’t know how I could have had a more perfect brother. Time for bed!

October 26, 2017
Today was a lot of fun. For me it started at 2pm because I was so exhausted from the night before. Mom, Dad, and Aunt Kathy left the apartment around 12:30pm to walk around. They texted me their location when I woke up at 1:30pm. I joined them near the Jaume I metro stop. As I walked out of the station a flood of people was walking in. Apparently they were a part of a Catalonia independence demonstration that just ended. They all looked very young. Probably middle school or high school age. How do yall even know what you marching for?? They seemed too young to have an educated stance on the matter. After I sat at the table with the family they mentioned that the demonstration literally engulfed their table 10 minutes before I arrived. They said they were slightly jostled as the marchers went by, but that it was very peaceful. All these demonstrations occurred because the President of Catalonia was making a decision today whether or not to vote for a delay in the independence movement. The protesters were all very energetic and full of purpose. We then started the Julie Trumpoldt Tapas Bar Crawl. The included bars were all recommendations from my friends Hasret and Tauhid. On our way to the first location, El Portalon, we passed another demonstration located at the Plaza Sant Jaume. Aunt Kathy took some photos and we jokingly reprimanded her that this was exactly the type of thing we were trying to avoid! I took a video as well, so don’t tell her ;) We arrived at El Portalon after walking through some narrow alleys full of stores and bars. It felt like we were back in Madrid. El Portalon was a very charming place. It had a hostel sort of vibe with nice pillows on the bench seats and empty glass bottles sitting on shelves as décor. I really enjoyed this place particularly because it played Prince Royce bachata music ever so softly.

We then ordered some tapas and drinks. I really enjoyed my selection. It was a blue fin fish chopped up and placed on a layer of avocado on a layer of tomato. Everyone else also enjoyed their choices. I would definitely recommend this place. After this stop, we walked through some cute plazas and ended up on La Rambla – the popular street for tourists that had a terrorist attack a month ago. Dad left us to explore Park Guell since he only has 2 days left in Barcelona. The ladies wandered the center pedestrian strip on La Rambla and stopped many times so Aunt Kathy could take photos of the living statues. All their outfits were very elaborate. She even got a photo with one who started stroking her hair. It was quite comical

because Aunt Kathy made funny faces. I should have video recorded it! The next stop on our tour was La Fonda. This was a fancy place, but prices were relatively cheap. Again we ordered tapas and drinks. Eating and drinking our way through Barcelona - livin the life! We then dropped by a place called the Red Garter. We were told this bar may play the PSU vs Ohio State football game. We've discovered it's near impossible to find American football in Spain. We asked the bartender about the game, but she didn’t seem optimistic about it. Plus the place didn’t have many TVs. Dad was set to meet us at 6pm at our next stop, La Champeria. La Champeria was similar to a speakeasy as it was very difficult to find the main door. Thankfully, Google maps placed us at the correct location because the exterior had no sign! We squeezed through the door and entered the chaos before us. Dad walked in right behind us. Hasret had warned me that this place was very popular and was usually overflowing with people. Thankfully, there was still space to stand inside. Things were moving a mile a minute around the bar. I was trying to figure out how exactly this place operated because it was very disorganized. HELPPP. I eventually got the attention of the bartender (probably because I looked distressed). He said people typically ordered cava and small dishes of meat and cheese so I

trusted him and went with that. There were 3 feisty older women, probably 70 years+, crowding the bar and shouting at the bartender as he was explaining things to me. He was getting pissed at them. They REALLY wanted more cava. They made it seem like cava was the essence of their existence! He was very kind to me and hooked me up. As he was pouring the glasses he turned around for a minute and one of the ladies grabbed one of my drinks. Uhhh excuse me lady, that’s mine! But I didn't want to get in a brawl over cava so I didn't say anything. They were too rowdy to mess with. He turned back around and wondered where the cava went. I shamelessly pointed at one of the old ladies to place the blame. He reprimanded them and they started quarreling so much that they knocked the glass over onto the guy. He was losing his patience. I really felt bad for him. But it was also a little comical. About 5 years later (or so it seemed) I paid for our items and we found a small space to stand at a tall bar. This was quite the experience. I can't imagine what it's like before 5pm! That’s apparently when they have bottles of cava for only 4 euros. Each one of our little glasses was only 1.50 euro. And it was delishhhhh. We didn’t stay here too long since it was so crazy. We walked about 10 minutes toward the beach and landed at El Vaso de Oro. This was a locals place which is hard to believe since it's in close proximity to the touristy beach/shops. The bartenders were always laughing and having a great time and it was obvious they were serving many regulars. They also did not speak English. Finally! We ordered a plate of artichoke tapas which Mom loved and drinks. It felt like a pub in Ireland with all the comradery around. Our next and final stop was for pastries at Bubo. All the items were perfectly presented and very intricate. We ooo-ed and ahh-ed for about 10 minutes before selecting our items. Each one of us ordered something different.

I wasn't too impressed after I had tried each of them, but Mom and Kathy were raving about them. After that we hopped on the metro and checked out another possible PSU bar about 7 blocks from our place called CocoVail Beer Hall. We walked in and it didn’t seem promising, there were only 3 TVs. We told the bartender our dilemma and he, with 100% confidence, said, “Oh yes we can play that game. No problem.” We asked him numerous times if he was sure and each time he said yes. He said he could pull it up on his laptop and project it on one of the TVs. Okayyy. Guess we should believe you! I asked him, “Will YOU be here Saturday?” because if he was making all these promises I wanted to hold him accountable haha. He said yes. He wrote down our info and placed a reservation in his big schedule book which looked like The Bible. He was very nice and cute. He was from Argentina. We left with our hopes a little higher, but we were still a little apprehensive. We grabbed a taxi home and ALL of us planned to go to a salsa club later. YAY! We had two hours so Dad and I took naps while Mom and Aunt Kathy watched a movie. At 11:45pm we headed to El Mojito Club. We arrived 10 minutes later and received our weird drink tickets like Antilla did. I used mine for water which I should have done last time. A class was in session when we entered the dance floor. It was a very modern club with an abstract layout. Thankfully we didn’t arrive any earlier because the class ran until 12:15am. Sheesh! Finally, social dancing started and I danced with a very talented guy. Aunt Kathy really wanted me to dance with the guy in the red sneakers. She said he always looked like he was having a lot of fun. Eventually I asked him to dance to a bachata song. He was very sweet and always smiling. The family cheered when I sat down with them afterwards. Request granted! Tonight was perfect because there was still lots of space. Even a comfy couch for the family to sit on! They looked like VIPs. I probably looked important bringing in a whole crew of people who just watched me haha. I have to say I would recommend Antilla Wednesday over Mojito for any future bachata dancers! It was a great day with the perfect balance of exercise and eating :)

October 27, 2017
Today we went to Montserrat! Dad opted out of this trip since it required a one-hour train ride. He said he didn’t want to ride an hour away on his last day in Barcelona. Valid reasoning I suppose, but I knew he would have really liked this trip so I was a little sad. We left the apartment at 10am. I wanted to give us plenty of time to get there because it sounded a little complicated. We first took a taxi to Plaza Espanya. This is an area we hadn’t been to yet. I wish we had some time to explore it a little because the old bull ring was there and it was transformed into a shopping center. There was also a grand palace nearby. We went down into the train station and bought our tickets. Once we arrived at 10:30am, we saw on the screen that the next train didn’t come for another hour! Oops. Poor planning on my part. I felt bad. I’m usually really good at planning things so it was a little disappointing. Mom and Aunt Kathy played it off like it was no big deal and I typed in this journal for a little bit. We hopped on the train and rode for an hour. Mom, Aunt Kathy, and I exited at the third Montserrat stop which links to the funicular train. The funicular was pretty crowded and it took about 20 minutes to reach the top.

As we were riding along the mountainside, the views were simply outstanding. We were gaining serious elevation and you could see a river far below. You could see mountains upon mountains upon mountains for miles. The mountain we were heading to had a monastery at the top. And the rocks on top of the mountain were so jagged and strong, very unique in shape and texture. We exited the funicular and moseyed around the area to figure out what to do. We hadn’t done any research for this trip which sometimes is the best way to go. We stopped by an information booth to figure out a game plan. The Montserrat map showed multiple hikes ranging from 30 minutes to 2 hours. There were even some backpackers in the area. Apparently this is a hot spot for hiking. When we left this morning the weather for Montserrat said it was going to be 85°. So, we all dressed in shorts and short sleeves. Well it turned out that the temperature was actually 65°. Surprise! Thankfully I brought my jacket. I lent it to Aunt Kathy or Mom, whoever needed it at the time. We kept commenting

on it and eventually we discovered there was a Montserrat also in Valencia which is along the coast. 85° to 65° - that’s quite the difference! It was semi-comical. We then walked through the monastery, Santa Maria de Montserrat Abbey, which was free. The inside of the Basilica was quite amazing. There was gold everywhere and a lot of elements hanging from the ceiling. Then we stood in line to see the Virgin of Montserrat statue which required climbing a series of stairs to see. The Virgin statue was actually black and apparently it didn’t used to be that way - it had blackened over time. We then decided to eat at the buffet place, Restaurant El Mirador, the info booth lady suggested. We walked along the stone sidewalks to the buffet area and also passed some Farmers Market stands. We entered the restaurant and ordered our buffet for 15 euros each. It was one of the most extravagant buffets I have ever seen. They were at least 20 types of deserts, numerous salads, numerous meats, and many many other things. It even included drinks – all the beer, wine, and soda that you could ever want to drink! If we had known that we would have gotten there earlier and drank for hours! Dad would have really loved this and taken advantage of it. Kenneth too. I enjoyed it because there was a wide selection of fruits. I stacked a bunch of different ones on my plate and savored the juiciness of them all. I also had some other items and a chocolate ice cream cup for dessert. The view from our table was over the mountainside into the valley. It was spectacular. We sure do have a knack for finding these stunningly wonderful eateries that overlook great distances! We then wandered around the area nearby which had several overlooks and historic panels to read. Mom took 

pictures of me on a platform below a series of stairs. There was one picture where I was walking back up so I wasn’t on the platform. When Aunt Kathy looked at the photo she started freaking out saying, “She was there, I swear she was there!” She literally thought I disappeared from the photo. I let her believe this for a while (Why? Because it was funny of course!) before cluing her in that I was the tiny speck walking up in the photo. She yelled at me in a joking way and it became a running joke. It was around 4:15pm at this point and we wanted to catch the 5:15pm funicular train back down. At this point I realized I lost my train ticket! I tried find it by retracing my steps. Unfortunately I was unsuccessful. It became another running joke - that I couldn’t hold on to a ticket for more than 4 hours. Especially since I also lost

 my “10 trip” metro ticket a couple days ago. It was very humorous and Aunt Kathy was making fun of me every chance she could get. I was just upset that I had to pay an extra 11 euros. We jumped on the train and went back to Barcelona. We returned around 7pm. It was Dad’s last night so he wanted to go out and get a lot of drinks. Well, we decided just to go to an Argentina restaurant, order some tapas, have one drink, and call it a night. Dad cried out, “What! Only one drink??” and he seemed so sad. I felt really bad so I decided that I would go out with him for a couple hours since it was his last night. We agreed to go to the W Hotel along the water. It had a bar on the 26th floor that overlooked the city. When I first suggested it, I didn’t think about the fear of heights issue I have. We entered the hotel and I started getting scared. I asked the elevator lady if the bar was near the elevator and if the view was right out the door. She said the view would be right in front of us as we exited the elevator and the bar was around the corner from the elevator. Oh no. As we were riding the elevator to the top I started freaking out. It was going super fast! It was like it shot out of a gun! We arrived on the 26th floor and I immediately looked down on the floor, closed my eyes, and held onto Dad’s jacket. He walked

 me to the bar and I looked straight at all the liquor bottles – pretending I was having a staring contest with them. I was feeling very uneasy. I ordered a Mai Tai which again was elaborately made, but in a different way. The bartender even used a blowtorch while he was sprinkling some cinnamon or some other spice onto the drink! He said it was for the smell. I eventually worked up the courage to turn around to look at the view and it actually wasn’t that bad! I think because it was enclosed by glass all around it didn’t seem so high up. If I moved closer to the edge, however, was a different story. There were little couches and VIP sections everywhere and it had a pretty good vibe. We hung out there for about an hour and a half and then went back home. Dad was very happy that we went out. I’m glad that I could do that for him because he always puts time aside when I want to do things. We both went to sleep immediately after we got back. This was a fun day once again! We’re checking off all the things on the list - I can’t believe it!

October 28, 2017
Today was just the ladies! Dad flew back to the States early this morning. We started moving around and getting ready at 10am. I coordinated with Leah what time and where we should meet her for lunch. We planned to meet her at 12:30pm at Palomas, a great Paella restaurant on the beach. When I looked up the location it was wayyyy far East. We needed to take a train 30min to get there. It was a little unexpected, but it was nice to get out of the city. We left the apartment at 11:15am, walked to a different metro stop, rode a few stops, then transferred to a train. Very elaborate. I must say I'm not a big fan of Barcelona's transportation system. You even need to purchase different tickets throughout your multi-mode trip. Purchasing the train ticket was a little confusing because our metro ticket had the R listed on it for railway, but actually did not work. So we quickly purchased a train ticket (orange ticket) and rushed to the track. Aunt Kathy kept giving me crap about if I still had my ticket or if I had already lost it. Hardy-har. It was pretty comical, I must admit. The train arrived and we pushed the button on the door to open it.

As soon as it opened my worst nightmare became a reality. Masses of children yelling and screaming, even sitting on the floor because there were so many, throughout the entire train car. We didn't have enough time to walk to a different part of the train to get on, so we counted our losses and jumped on. This should be interesting…I actually chuckled to myself because I couldn’t believe it was happening. They were jumping all around, yelling, punching each other, etc. Other innocent adult passengers looked scared too. We were all trapped. We figured it was a 4H camp of some sort going to the mountains. We rode 30 minutes in this chaos and then finally reached FREEDOM. I could hear again! Despite the loud kids, the views while on the train were stunning. We were practically riding along the beach the entire time. The sea was gorgeous as it shimmered in the sun. And there were waves! This part of Barcelona was very calm and had a locals vibe. I really liked it. We met with Leah and sat on the terrace of the restaurant. When we first arrived, there were not many people there.

That significantly changed after 1:30pm. The place was packed. We order Paella and a few appetizers. Oh and a bottle of cava. Of course. Our meal was wonderful and the views were outstanding. The weather was perfect too. We had great conversation and then ordered dessert. I asked for the Punky penguin kids ice cream because I figured it would be hilarious to give Kristen the plastic penguin. I really wanted to keep it for myself actually. We wrapped things up and then strolled along the beach for 15 minutes before we caught our respective trains. Leah went East while we returned to Barcelona to the west.

 

We decided to continue Julie's Tapas Bar Crawl with two more bars. Both were in Gotic neighborhood. We exited at the Arc de Triompf station and walked through a wine festival! There was heaps of wine and Aunt Kathy was in heaven. Pictures galore. It wasn't as packed as I thought it would be though. We then set our eyes on our first tapas bar, Mosquito. As we walked the streets to find it, we kept discovering hidden plazas. They were all really cool and charming. We sat at the bar and they had an extensive beer list. I was impressed. It ended up being an Asian cuisine place rather than a tapas bar, but the food we ordered was delicious. We walked a couple blocks (along the way Aunt Kathy purchased a poo man which is a trademark of Barcelona apparently. I still don't understand why haha) and ate/drank at Bar Deltas Pulperia. We were not impressed. We were all tired so we decided to head back to the apartment. Nap time. We then left for CocoVail Beer Hall to watch the PSU vs Ohio State game. I still wasn't convinced they would be able to play the game. We walked in at 9:15pm and it was pretty mellow. We chatted with the bartender and he said he was really sorry but he couldn’t find the game. He had spent the last hour trying to find it. Poor guy. He looked really upset that he couldn’t help us. Thankfully some knights in shining armor from California arrived. They took over the guy's laptop and found the game in seconds. Woohoo! It's game time! We ordered some beers and food and cheered as PSU immediately ran the kickoff all the way back for a touchdown. Within the hour we were surrounded by a hostel bar crawl. All the girls were dressed really nicely, dresses and such, while the guys were in jeans and polos. Quite the scene. Also the bar changed the music to hip-hop. It was getting rowdyyy haha. It was a close game, but in the end PSU lost. Sad day. I have no clue what our plans are for tomorrow, so it should be interesting! We will experience Daylights Savings here in Spain tonight so we'll get an extra hour of sleep. Then we'll experience it again in the US November 5. 2017: the year of two Fall Daylight Savings!

October 29, 2017
Today was our last day in Barcelona so we had to make it a good one. We woke up around 10am and decided to go to Montjuic which is where a castle stands above the city. Dad went there on Friday when we went to Montserrat. He said it was worth the time. It also would be super easy to get there because we only had to take one line on the metro. We walked to the station and the first stop on the line was the one where there might have been some issues due to a planned demonstration. When we got on the metro there were many people with Spain flags or Catalonia flags but all of them got off at the first stop. There was no disruption in service and everything went smoothly. It was somewhat similar to a soccer game experience with so many people and spirit onboard. We rode a few more stops and exited to find the funicular train. I’ve never taken so many funicular trains in my life! And I still don’t even know what "funicular" means…. Afterward, we stepped onto a bus and it was slammed with people. The bus driver had some mad skills when he was turning around sharp corners. We eventually arrived at the

top and exited at the castle. We walked up the cobblestone path and stood in line to buy a ticket. The ticket for me was only 3 euros because I was under 29 years old. I really like this discount that they have for younger people! It was 5 euros for the adults, which is still really cheap. We grabbed a little map and then we explored the castle grounds a bit. It was quite fascinating, actually. We walked through these big arches on stone paths and it was really dark and a little moist. We climbed up one level and looked over the beautiful sea. We spotted many cruise

lines and we even saw the W Hotel that Dad and I went to the night before. As we walked around the edge of the castle we could see over the city of Barcelona and also see the mountains in the distance. This was where we spotted Tibidabo. We’ve been there! Mom continued to feed pigeons with the extra bread that we had. They’re going to miss her when we’re gone! We also walked atop the castle which gave a better vantage point. It was beautiful - lots of greenery and birds. We decided to take the cable car back down because it looked really interesting and you could see the whole city below you. This was 8 euros which was a little expensive. We then searched for a place to eat. Aunt Kathy pointed out a place that was literally a hole-in-the-wall. When we entered, we were greeted with a beautiful view and fancy

tables. Well that was deceptive! We did not expect to see such an extravagant set up from the outside décor. We sat down and soaked up the views before us. All the items on the menu were really expensive. But it was our last day so why the hell not! I ordered duck, Mom ordered artichoke bites and pasta, and Aunt Kathy ordered veal. Our meals were very delicious. We then took the funicular back and we had to change lines because we wanted to go immediately to a hiking trail (Bunker del Carmel) to watch the sunset. When we left it was 3:30pm. Mom and Aunt Kathy really wanted to go back to the apartment and get the bottle of wine in our fridge so we could drink it at the top of the hike. At first I dismissed the idea and they agreed because we didn’t have enough time. But then I thought, “Hey, I could get off the train as they stay in the station and run and get the wine and come back.” I was able to complete the usual 25 minute roundtrip in 10 minutes. Track star status! I also grabbed Aunt Kathy’s phone because she left it. We rode the train to the stop near the hike. From here it was very unclear which path we should take to get to the hike. I acted cool, calm, and collected and pretended to know what I was doing. I think I was worrying Aunt Kathy at this point because she was already screaming, “TAXI!” like she needed saving. I asked to use Mom’s phone to get directions and it told us to use the stairs before us. We climbed up the wooden stairs which

eventually turned into a dirt path and then into concrete stairs. It was pretty tiring and I was proud of Mom and Aunt Kathy for making it to the top. We arrived at the top and there were multiple groups of people already there. Many of them taking photos. There were two guys selling beverages who were competing against each other and one of them seem to win more because he was loud and proud. He was quite the entertainer. We found a nice spot along the bunker wall and glanced over the Mediterranean Sea. The view was almost 360 degrees. You could see the mountains and tucked away buildings on one side and the exposed buildings

and the sea on the other side. When it started getting closer to sunset, it got quite crowded. It was a beautiful experience and we enjoyed it while sipping on our wine. We started hiking back down after the sunset and arrived back at the apartment around 7:30pm. Since it was Daylight Savings last night, the sun set early at 5:50pm. On the way back I ordered some sushi to go. It was the most amazing sushi I’ve had in a long time. We sadly started packing up our stuff in preparation to leave early tomorrow morning. I can’t believe this trip has come to an end! It was so much fun and it was great being away from the States and all the political drama there. But I must embrace this good time and look forward to the next! Until the next adventure!